Diatonic Chords & Chord Progressions

What is a diatonic chord progression?

Songs use diatonic chord progressions to create a sense of harmonic motion. A diatonic chord progression uses notes only from the key signature you are playing in. Chord progressions create a sense of direction by moving from chords that have a sense of tension towards chords that have a sense of resolution. 

Diatonic chord progressions pull from the diatonic chords in a given key. The diatonic chords in a major key are as follows: major I, minor ii, minor iii, major IV, major V, minor vi, and diminished vii. The chords based off of the natural minor scale are: minor i, diminished ii, major III, minor iv, minor v, major VI, and major VII. 

What are some common diatonic chord progressions?

The most common diatonic chord progressions in pop and rock music include the I-IV-V and ii-V-I chord progressions. The relationship between the I chord, or tonic chord, and the V chord, or dominant chord, underpins the sound of these progressions which drive back toward the tonic. Songs tend to start and end with a I chord, which features the starting note of the scale. 

Why do diatonic chords sound good together?

Diatonic chords sound good when played together because they use notes that are part of the same scale. Non-diatonic chords alter tones with a flat or sharp and borrow from other keys. This creates tension and color, from dissonances to flat 7s that add spice to music. 

How do you use diatonic chords to write your own chord progression?

You can write your own chord progressions by considering which notes are in a chord. It can also help to think about how diatonic chords relate to one another. Chords with a leading tone, like the V or the vii, try to resolve strongly towards the tonic. Similarly, a subdominant IV chord can pull towards a I chord in what is called a plagal cadence, or it can pivot to a V chord. 

How do chord inversions help when playing diatonic chord progressions?

Chord inversions make it easier to play diatonic chord progressions with fewer leaps. Pairing inversions together makes it easier to put more distant chords together. Practicing chord inversions also lets you explore different voicings. Playing a I chord and then a IV chord in second inversion lets you keep the root note the same. 

What should my left hand be doing when playing a diatonic chord progression?

Your left hand can play chords while your right hand plays melody. Alternatively, your left hand can play the root of each chord while your right hand plays chords. Either works for most pop and rock music!

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and today we are going to learn about diatonic chords, and how to build a chord progression,
which in case you ever want to get into songwriting or say, playing with a rock band or jazz band, this is going to be big.
let's come to the piano to learn what diatonic chords are and how to play them.
You actually already are very familiar with some diatonic chords even though we've never called them by that name.
Diatonic is just a fancy word that means belonging to a certain key.
For example, let's say for now that we are in the key of C major.
The C major scale has these notes, so we would say these pitches C D E F G A B C
Okay, each of those is called a pitch, and each of those pitches are diatonic in the key of C.
So D is diatonic in the key of C. F is diatonic in the key of C. It just means it belongs in the key of C.
F-sharp however, is not diatonic. It's not in that family if you will. C-sharp is not diatonic, but all these white keys C D E F G A B C, those are diatonic.
Now, let's say that we're in the key of D for a minute.
So these are the diatonic pitches in the key of D. We have a D E F-sharp G A B C-sharp D. All of those are diatonic.
Now F is not diatonic in the key of D. It doesn't belong in that family.
B-flat is not diatonic, but C-sharp is, F-sharp is, D is.
Diatonic just means it belongs in that key. It's part of the family of notes that make up that key.
Now let's talk about diatonic chords.
Let's go back to the key of C. So remember, basically every white key on your entire piano is diatonic in the key of C.
The Black Keys are all not diatonic. So if we're in the key of C,
let's look at every possible diatonic chord.
You already know this chord, which we've called all along as the I chord.
Another name for the I chord is tonic, and that's our first diatonic chord.
Now, we also have what's called the ii chord.
All we have to do is move up to the second note of the C major scale and build a new triad with D as the root, the second note of the scale.
D F A we would call the ii chord. It's also a diatonic chord.
Okay, we can keep going from there.
By the way, that's a D minor chord. The D minor chord is a diatonic chord in the key of C.
Now if we come up to E, and again build a new triad all using only the notes diatonic to ...